It is often said that “people buy with their eyes.” Beautiful and well-branded packaging can significantly enhance the desirability of goods, and promote improved sales of those goods. This is particularly true with respect to goods that might otherwise be viewed as mere commodities. Such products include, without limitation, the many different kinds of powders, creams and liquids that are used as cosmetics, manicure/pedicure products, and other spa treatment products.
It is generally believed by the Applicant that, when a cosmetic, manicure/pedicure product, or other spa treatment product is visually appealing, and can be presented to a customer at the time that the customer is deciding what goods or services to purchase, the customer is more likely to purchase the visually appeal product/service, and/or to purchase more products and services than the customer might otherwise buy when presented with only a written menu, an oral explanation of services, or product packaged in unattractive off-the-shelf jars. Thus offering a cosmetic, manicure/pedicure product, or spa treatment product in visually appealing packaging can enable a cosmetic store, a manicure/pedicure salon, or a spa owner to achieve higher sales.
On the other hand, it is generally believed by the Applicant that the contrary point is true—when products are packaged in a manner that is unattractive, sloppy, inconsistent, poorly-branded, “in bulk,” or that shows a lack of attention to detail—this packaging can and does have a negative impact on consumer perception of the product, and a further negative impact on sales figures for that product.
Many cosmetics, manicure/pedicure products, and other spa treatment products are sold in small jars, containing between one and five fluid ounces of powder, cream or liquid. Such jars typically have a jar body, with a threaded neck, and a jar lid, with threads that engage with the threaded neck. Some such jars have a transparent or translucent jar body, to allow consumers to see the cream, powder or liquid inside the jar. This approach is sometimes used for packaging of powdered acrylic for use on artificial nail treatments.
However, for many such products, particularly in the nail industry, the industry standard manner of display is to place the jars in a large stand, or rack, with jars containing product of each color in a separate slot in the rack. One drawback associated with this approach is that when jars have an opaque lid, it can be difficult for consumers to quickly identify the color or colors of product that they want, especially for cosmetic brands that have dozens of different colors. Another drawback of opaque lids are that, when many jars of nail powder are stored by a manicurist in a drawer, or a box, it can be difficult for the manicurist to quickly locate the jar with the color of powder she prefers.
Some cosmetics producers have offered cosmetic powder packaged in jars that have completely transparent lids. While such a prior art solution has value, it limits packaging solutions for cosmetics manufacturers that want to have a particular appearance of their products that includes a lid with an opaque, colored exterior ring, and a “window” bounded by the ring.
Some have offered cosmetic powder packaged in jars that have a “window” in the lid, allowing the color of the cosmetic powder to be visible from the top of the jar. A drawback of this approach is that currently available windowed jar lids often leak when used with fine grains of cosmetic powder, such as acrylic nail dipping powder.
Some prior art solutions to the leakage problem use a sealing layer on the jar, inside of the lid. Such sealing layers are variously made of metallic foil or plastic. However, use of such a sealing layer spoils the effect of having a transparent window in the lid. Further, use of a sealing layer results in the need for another packaging step—applying the sealing layer with a heat treatment before putting on the threaded lid. Still further use of a sealing layer results in wasteful packaging and customer frustration in the need to break or rip off the film seal prior to use.
Another drawback is that if a brand wants to have the window printed with the brand logo, it is difficult to ensure that the logo will be lined up and correctly oriented with the front of the jar. In other words, current manufacturing processes often result in inconsistent labeling of the window, resulting in “crooked” logos when the lid is rotatably screwed into place, when the logo is compared to the orientation of the product name on the front of the jar. Currently, this issue is addressed by hand printing logos on jar lids after closure, or by using stickers that are adhered to the jar lid and/or front of the jar, generally after closure. However, hand printing, hand assembly, or hand-stickering all result in inconsistent products and high labor costs.
Accordingly, there is an unfulfilled need for a windowed jar lid that threadably attaches to a jar body, where the combination of the windowed jar lid and the jar body is capable of holding fine cosmetic powders without leaking through the threaded closure or the window edges, and without using a separate sealing film or foil. Further, there is a need for a windowed jar lid that threadably attaches to a jar body, and a method of making same, so that a logo printed on the windowed jar lid will be properly aligned with information on the front of the jar when the jar lid is threadably attached to the jar body.